This invention relates scoops or shovels that can be removably mounted on a pickup truck or similar work vehicle. The invention is more particularly concerned with a clamshell scoop arrangement which can replace the snowplow blade of the work vehicle so that the same controls that are used to lift and lower the snowplow blade and to angle the blade right or left can be used to raise and lower the scoop or shovel to pick up dirt or debris from a work site and to open and close the device so that the dirt or debris can be deposited at a collection or dump site. Many pickup trucks are fitted with a front-mounted snow-plow attachment where a frame is mounted on the bumper or frame of the truck, and a snowplow blade is removably attached onto a plow bracket on the frame. These are typically hydraulically operated, with a hydraulic pump powered by the vehicle engine feeding hydraulic fluid through one hydraulic circuit to a lift cylinder or pair of cylinders that lift and lower the plow bracket and blade, and through another hydraulic circuit to another cylinder or cylinders that angle the blade right, left, or center. Each hydraulic circuit has its own control lever in the cab of the vehicle so that the operator can control the snowplow blade.
At the same time, at most work sites, e.g., where there is excavation or construction, there is a need to cleanup debris that is generated during the day, but there are no simple power tools for carrying out this function. This means that either the workers need to shovel the debris by hand into the bed of a truck to transport the debris to the collection site, or that another work vehicle, such as a front loader or bulldozer, has to be diverted for this clean-up function. These vehicles are not always available.
Accordingly, there has been a need for some mechanism to allow the workers to use standard utility vehicle, e.g., pick-up truck for this clean-up purpose. Even though many of these vehicles are converted in winter to snowplowing activities, no one has previously considered a simple conversion of the snow plow function for a clean-up use during the construction season.